Meet our grower

Joe fell in love with the California Central Coast while attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he received his degree in Ornamental Horticulture. Following college, he started his career in ornamental plant production, and growing perennials, California native plants and Mediterranean shrubs for retail nurseries and garden centers. He has become widely admired for his wealth of knowledge on all aspects of growing and is frequently consulted for his expertise. In 2000, Joe decided to apply that experience toward growing olive trees and creating exceptional olive oil.

In 2001, he found the perfect location — 26 undeveloped acres on a sun-soaked, south-facing hillside in Paso Robles, California. Over the following four years, he carefully selected, propagated and planted a variety of Spanish olive trees (Arbosana, Arbequenia and Picudo — he is one of the only producers of this olive in the U.S.) and Italian (Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino, Maurino and Maraiolo). These varietals now compose ALTOMONTE, PICUDO (available in 2018) and CINQUE (available in 2018) estate-produced 36° Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The result? Handcrafted, robust and simply beautiful extra virgin olive oil.